Station indicator



H. McNlCHOLAS.

STATION INDICAIOR. APPLICATION F'lLED I AN-15,1920. RENEWED JAN. 14.1922.

1,425,879, Patented Aug. '15 22.

' 4100 n ['01 hfram Nc/Y/c/za/w H. McNICHOLAS.

STATION INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JAN- 15. 1 9.20. RENEWED JAN. .14, 1922.

PatentedAug. 15, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

STATION INDICATQB,

' specificatioh of Letters Patent.

twee s d 945?- 953 Applicatipn filed January 15,1920, ser aigv i351,553. it ew a {snyery l lg tr; s r ia1, 1w gg, 9, 1

I0, all whom it party cqqwem {Be itjknown that Ll'IIRAM McN cno hs,

awcitizenof thegUnitecl St zite sg reisiclihg at Conuell, in FranklinCounty encl ,State of YWashington, hziye inyentecl certain new anduseful Improvements in fitetion Indicators, if-which he f llow ng-i epeifieet n i lik Pre e in entiqn rel t i p nents in station indicetors orannuncietor s,

electrically operated at successiye interv zils f lrt eu ngmov men @i,wre r -belt in rgler to chenge-the signor street nainethat visi-h Qnthewe a usu vin S ree r wiry-cars, en th prima y je i t e invention s the pcv s q f no e meeting me ns e lect zi r ly oper ech an als pe at ng mchan sm f r t display lore-b or sbeltvcarrying the street signs ,ordesignstiens. 1

T h sendlth nventio con emplet th usual housing or casi ng with aWlndOWOI' glas s crete repv ningi n w h, is in Q awesupmrte onz p d i dng te 9 nollers ,thet are 1clir ectly revolved to .;Wind and unwind thev eb through the instrument lity of. an intermediate rdriving shahft, incombination with a friction roller on the sheftcozact ng wit a qm m w yidle friction lroll er between which the Web is PfiSSQd, and urt e heinv n e -l QY T ib ac u t ng m ha sm ape r te el c ic lly inte m t entlytf om 1 ve 1 Qid a nc de i pr p r y op n ,gnpl closed electric circuit,all as will be herei l fien esc i ed len l i In th efipemp ny e dw ing Ihm illustrated one complete example of the p ys c emb d me 0f i y i enio e strneted ,gmd. arranged, according to the best mode I have, so ferclevisecl for the practical application of-the principles ,of myinmention.

em ody ng t e P sen v o a Po o of the houslngbelng broken away forconyenience of illustration.

- Figure; 2 is a cvertical centrztl sectionnltFigure l is airont View ofthe indicator the l e-Rene e i re hew;

e12 eseme hemsm'i e vat 3 51s "11' enler ii t see'eegie ctelev s ln thevpreferred form of 11.: l i. r 1 open ng, in the front ofthe hous ng,and '10-;

thetwos acecl rollers2 and, 3" that i g, deta riew ibfjche i mi k whlslen gi rack .pi ip bm cetecl i- .eferigb1y, a little belowithevgeiytieai c nte of th lheus lig, thei'webgoi ourse b ef-iq in e' erstleleweenie;amp succ'essiye s gns on the Web may h hi fhm he ndqjwerolly on the in run-of theftrip 'of th'e v street ra way n-t i n ngf ppe T incl held in position hackbf the glessfclosu're or yvng olo 5 'Ihe l cp islng Lory i casing is Esuit ably ettacheclgt o the, "car whereglt; is reagclily iiie b g nilwe d S th b ti P -Q teli dqn t -v ic Plainsan s spen ed o supported (with its ends. secured f to the. ,I'e-

spec tiv e rollers Q'ztndB, and a clriye shaft 5 s i ournelecl in thehousing; and passes through the; partition P, intermediate Q fl I r llrs shown.

oh,{in, front of which the-[Weband ,zin eiwit swhich g iis p alle aszdriteshafiha m e 6 lfi lli he ej at the opposite side of the Web,directly in frontof encl wi ith the clrive roller is an teller oririctiohroll'er T eo-acting with the clitiye r oller gti clpartlleltherewitlif The gal -p frictioniroller is fixed, on' the shaftior the ii 'ebencl their a l contect oller iio'iii t fee iiig device 7down from the roller 2, or pull it up from the roll 3, as readilyunderstood, each revolving movement of the driving or feed roller beingsuflicient to move the web the required distance to withdraw one streetsign from view and display the next succeeding sign on the web back ofthe win dow j In addition to the two springs 9, which are attached" tothe inner side of the'top of the casing by a block or lug 10, anadjusting screw ll'is provided, threaded through the front wall of thehousing, and the inner end of each screw engages a spring, as shown inFigure 4 in order that, by turning the screw by hand from the outside ofthe casing, the tension of the spring against the journal or shaft ofthe friction roller, may be'adjusted, thus varying the frictionalcontact between the driving roller and the friction roller and web.

The two web rollers 2 and 8' which are alternately the winding andunwinding rollers for the web are positively and directly revolved fromthedriving shaft by means of the drive pulleys 12 and 13 fixed thereon,the respective rollers 2 and 3 being provided with pulleys 14 and 15 ofless diameter than the drive pulleys and the pulleys are connected byslip belts 16 and 17 as shown. Thus assuming the intermediate drivingroller 6 to be revolving clockwise, the upper end of the web is woundupon the roller 2 and the lower end of the web is being unwound from theroller 3, all parts being moved in synchronism, and although the'rollers2 'and 3 turn at a greater circumferential speed than the intermediateroller, the difference in movement is compensated for by the slippulleys and the belts,,thus maintaining'the web taut and taking up anyslack that might otherwise ocour in the web.

The prime mover for the web operating mechanism thus described is thesolenoid magnet M rigidly secured in the lower part of the housing asshown, the complementary cores or solenoids S S of the magnet formingplungers with cushion spring 18, 18 at their lower free ends, which passthrough a bracket B in the casing. A rigid stem 1.9 rises vertically andcentrally of the two solenoid-plungers and forms a pivotal support at 20for a yoke fashioned with a pair of rack arms 21 22 whose teeth are complementary and are located on the inner faces of the arms of the yoke,and a spring 23 with its lower end attached'at 23 to the yoke and itsupper end attached at the free endof a bracket arm 24, above the yokepivot20, isadapted to hold the selected rack arm of the yoke inoperative position, and

the other 'arm in inoperative position in well known manner.

These opposed arms of the yoke are designed to co-act with'a pair ofoppositely working rack Wheels 25, 26 adapted to be clutched with thedriving shaft 5 through the instrumentality of a rack pinion 27 fixed onthe shaft and a spring pressed pawl pivoted on the rack Wheel, one ofthese clutch devices being provided for each rack wheel, and as beforestated, the working strokes of the rack Wheels are in reversedirections, while each rack wheel is free to turn in reverse direction.Thus if the rack arm of the yoke is equal to the width of the two rackwheels, the rack arm will drive the shaft through one rack wheel and theother wheel Will turn loosely on the shaft. It will readily be seen thatthe yoke may be turned on its pivot, from outside the hous ing byturning the knob 29 of the pivot until the bracket arm 24, to which'theupper end of the spring 28 is attached, passes across and to one side ofthe vertical'plane which a friction roller 31 is carried, and thisroller is adapted to engage one of the complementary notches 82 on'thecircular disk 33 fixed on the shaft -5 adjacent the rack wheels. Thefunction of the roller is to engage in one of these notches or recessesin the periphery of the disk and hold the parts, including the driveshaft and roller in rigid and fixed position when not in operation, tomaintain the web stationary between streets. VVhen-the magnet isenergized, the initial movement of the solenoid lifts the roller fromthe'notch in the disk and the upward movement of the rack bar 22 of theyoke in Figure 4 will revolve the shaft 5 through the rack Wheel whoseclutch is in engagement with the shaft, as before described.

A hood and reflector R are fashioned in the housing, just above thewindow, and an electric lamp L is provided to illuminate the window andstreet sign at night. I

From the above description it-will be apparent that when the magnet isenergized by a suitable electric current, the action of the solenoidslifts the plungers against the tension of the cushion springs 18 belowthe is magnets, and the upstroke of the rack'bar is the working strokewhich co-acts with the rack wheel, turning the shaft one halfrevolution, the return or retracted stroke vof the rack bar beingan'idle stroke and its rack reached, then the yoke is turned on itspivot as described, and the reverse movement of the web is attained.

Having thus fully described my invention, What I claim is- 1. Thecombination with an inclosing casing with a Web and supporting rollers,of

' an intermediate driving shaft and a drive ing rollers and slip beltsconnecting said pulleys, for the purpose described.

2. The combination with a web and its supporting rollers and means foractuating the Web, of magnetic means for reversing the movement of theweb including a plun-. v v I and its stem, a reversible yoke pivoted'on.

said stemand having rack arms, a drivi'ngshaft included in the actuatingmeans for the Web, a pair of oppositely Working selective rack Wheels onsaid shaft,and said wheels as described 7 g 7 3. The combination with aweb and its supportingrollers, "and means including a driving shaft foractuating'the web, magnetic means for reversing the movement of the webincluding a plunger and its stem, a reversible yoke having rack arms andpivoted on said stem, selective rack wheels rack arms adapted to 00-2160with said rack on said shaft for said arms, a detent carried by saidstem, a notched disk on'the driving c l shaft, and said disk adapted tobe engaged.

by the detent, for the purpose described.

HIRAM MGNICHOLAS.

eo'v

In testimony whereof I affix signaturen

